Edmund Burke

William Burke was a man of conservatism with a strong word. Since he was an Irish Member of Parliament and political writer for many years, he had no reason to support the French Revolution. Just as members of highly profitable corporations do not want taxes to increase in their bracket or compensation packages to be subject to consideration, Burke does not want to government he dearly loves to be forever changed.

“We have an inheritable crown, an inheritable peerage; and a House of Commons and a people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties, from a long line of ancestors” (49)

Burke argues here that there is no reason to mess with a system that allows the children of their father’s inheritance by their name. The commonwealth inherit the labor of their parents, and usually their children the same. But why should one allow this lower class of people power when they have not inherited it? Justice and the fairness that every human deserves a voice I think. But yet Burke suggests that we should not doubt our government and their rule but we should agree so to be loyal.

Through reading Burke’s work, I have gained an understanding of his reasons. He, in the position in society he holds, has good reason to not agree with the French Revolution. If I was him I probably would not either. He who has all the money does not want to give it up to commoners who have not earned it. In his passages we get a since of his greediness because of his power. “But he has not a right to an equal dividend in the product of the joint stock…” Everyman should have a voice no matter the amount of change in his pocket. His right as a man is the same as the man who lives in the estate from which he can see from his own window.

William Burke was a man blinded by the power he held. There are plenty of people in our day that do the same. All we can hope is for society to see the inequalities of individuals it surrounds.